Reproductive Rights in This Moment: Where Confidentiality, Self-Determination, and Social Work Values Meet (Non-CE)

Overview

When the Dobbs v. Jackson decision landed on June 24, 2022, half a century of reproductive rights protections in the United States changed in an instant. Depending on a person’s location, their rights to make decisions about their reproductive healthcare may vary widely, and their medical providers’ ability to aid them in this decision-making and provide evidence-based care may have changed drastically. Changes to not only abortion care, but also miscarriage care, in vitro fertilization, and family planning of many kinds have occurred in many locations. With continued legislative and judicial efforts to restrict reproductive freedoms further in motion at the federal level, what can we as social workers do to support those in our communities who may be affected? Recalling our professional values around confidentiality, self-determination, and advocacy can anchor social workers in this moment. This session will provide broader context for the current challenges to reproductive rights, strategies for centering the confidentiality and self-determination of the individuals we serve, and a call to action to advocate for change that centers the dignity and worth of those whose reproductive autonomy is at risk.

Objectives

1. Participants will be able to identify historical and present legislative and judicial policy-making that has shaped the current landscape of reproductive rights challenges.
2. Participants will be able to connect social work values of confidentiality and self-determination to specific strategies they can utilize to support the reproductive rights concerns of individuals they serve.
   
3. Participants will be able to articulate the role of advocacy as a social worker value and mechanism to make political change to support their communities’ needs for reproductive rights protections.
   

Registration and CE Information

• Register here for the Non-CE version.
• Please see the CE version if you need CEs
• The live webinar will be held May 13, 2025, from 12:00pm - 1:00pm
• Once registered, you will be able to access the course site to complete the Zoom registration to receive the link for the webinar.

Presenter: Molly M. McLay

Molly M. McLay, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who has worked as a mental health educator, researcher, and advocate on issues such as gender-based violence, LGBTQIA support, anxiety, neurodivergence, chronic illness, and sexual health from her current home base of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, for the last 15 years. In early 2024, she opened Molly McLay Counseling & Consultation Services, PLLC, an organization that provides psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and medical advocacy virtually to individuals across the state. She has spent time working toward a PhD in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, and she has previously worked at a group therapy practice, the University of Illinois Women’s Resources Center, and a federally qualified health center with at-risk pregnant and parenting women. She has also been a member of the Champaign County Mental Health Board for the last 3 years and became president of the board in June 2024. Molly has also spent the last 3 years undergoing treatments for infertility and pregnancy loss, and she is the mother of a stillborn daughter conceived via IVF. She is committed to strengthening mental health supports for those who have experienced any kind of reproductive health challenges and believes all birthing people deserve decision-making autonomy over their healthcare.